Pregame
Ohio (1-5) entered Thursday's contest seeking its 461st win in program history against the Eastern Kentucky Lady Colonels (5-3). The Bobcats were riding a five game losing streak heading into the game.
Ohio coach Semeka Randall was eager to get a win before the game.
“It’s very important to stop this losing streak,” coach Semeka Randall said. “It will help our confidence, make us feel better about one another and help us not to think the worst. It would be great to get a win, because we can start to put things back in perspective and get things rolling.”
She also mentioned what Ohio would need to do in order to get the win.
“It’s going to be a conscious effort to box out and always have a body on somebody,” said Randall. “Knowing they have shot blockers, we’ll have to make sure to keep putting pump fakes while going through the lane.”
First Half
Ohio's starters in the game are Erin Bailes, Kiyanna Black, Shavon Robinson, Ashley Fowler and Tina Fisher.
Black and Bailes are making their first starts of the season after Randall decided to alter the lineup.
EKU got the first basket of the game as senior forward Alex Jones hit a jumper to put the Lady Colonels up 2-0.
Shavon Robinson put up the first points of the game for Ohio with a jumper to tie the game at two.
Jalisa Bryant answered for EKU with a three-pointer from the corner to give the Lady Colonels a 5-2 lead.
Ohio went through a slew of possessions with missed shots until Tina Fisher made a layup with 17:12 remaining.
Bryant then turned it over for EKU and Black capitalized for Ohio with a jumper in transition to give Ohio a 6-5 lead.
Bailes got her first bucket of the game with 15:12 remaining to make the score 8-5 in Ohio's favor, but Jones would soon tie it up for EKU with a three-pointer.
Jade Barber then knocked down a layup for EKU to give the Lady Colonels a 10-8 lead. Alexus Cooper tacked on to EKU's score with a layup to make it 12-8 in EKU's favor. A minute later Miranda Maples would make a layup to give EKU a 14-8 and Barber tacked on two more to give EKU a 16-8 lead heading into a timeout with 11:31 remaining in the first half.
After the timeout, Maples made a free throw for EKU to give it a 17-8 lead but Tina Fisher answered with a layup to make it 17-10.
Raechele Gray nailed a three-pointer for EKU to give them a ten-point lead at 20-10, then Barber knocked down a layup to make it 22-10.
Ohio called a timeout with 9:02 remaining in the half as the Bobcats were getting beat up and down the court.
Symone Lyles scored on a put-back basket after the timeout to make the score 22-12.
EKU's Jasmine Henshaw knocked down one of two free throws with 7:55 left in the half to give the Lady Colonels a 23-12 lead.
Ohio's next bucket came about two minutes after its last as Bailes hit a mid-range jumper, it was her sixth point of the game. The score was 23-14 at that point.
Lyles drove the lane for Ohio with 5:17 an earned the foul call. She hot both free throws to make the score 23-16.
EKU's Barber then scored on an easy, uncontested layup seconds after Lyles' free throws.
Lyles would not be outdone though, she ran down the court and hit a three for Ohio.
However, EKU would answer with a three of their own. Brittany Coles knocked down a shot from long range to make the score 28-19.
The game momentarily became a three-point party as Bailes hit another three on the very next possesion. Ohio trailed 28-22 after her three.
EKU's Alex Jones laid it in to make the score 30-22 after that.
Robinson answered on a fastbreak layup to cut the lead down to six with 3:26 remaining in the half.
Gray drilled a three-pointer to make it 33-26 in EKU's favor.
Mariah Byard got to the free-throw line after a reac- in call on EKU and knocked down both attempts to cut the Lady Colonels' lead down to five points, it was then 33-28.
Lyles made two more free throws with 1:09 remaining in the game to make the score 33-30. Black got a steal at mid-court and passed to Byard from her knees for an easy layup. Ohio only trailed by two at that point, the score was 34-32.
Ohio surged offensively in the last eight minutes of the half. With eight minutes remaining, the score was 22-12. With 45 seconds left on the clock, the score was 34-32.
Black ran the court and hit Lexie Baldwin on a beautiful bounce pass to tie the game up with only seconds remaining.
At the half, the score was tied 34-34.
Erin Bailes and Symone Lyles led Ohio in scoring in the first half with nine points each. Jade Barber led EKU in scoring with nine as well.
Halftime: Ohio 34, Eastern Kentucky 34
Ohio looked to be heading into another scoring drought mid-way through the first half, but the Bobcats earned the bonus and capitalized on free throws to get some momentum.
Byard was 2-2 from the stripe and Lyles knocked down all four of her attempts at the line.
Black's dish to Baldwin to tie the game on a layup at the end of the half was huge for the Bobcats' confidence.
Second Half
Ohio forced an EKU miss on the first possession of the second half and Black proceeded to knock down a free throw to give Ohio a 35-34 lead. It's was Ohio's first lead since 15:21 remained in the first half.
Black then knocked down a deep two-pointer to give the 'Cats a 37-34 lead.
EKU's Gray then got a layup to make the score 39-36
Fowler then stole the ball at mid-court and took it straight to the rack to obtain a 39-36 lead with 17:37 remaining in the game.
Cooper knocked down a fastbreak jumper with 16:33 remaining to make the score 39-38.
Fisher then hit one of two free throws, Ohio had a 40-38 lead at that point.
The Bobcats were making it happen from the free throw line, Robinson went up with some contact and hit both of her attempts to give the 'Cats a 42-38 lead with 15:30 remaining.
EKU's Cooper blew by Bailes and the Lady Colonels made the score 42-40.
Lyles missed a layup for Ohio, but got a steal at the other end of the court that led to a Robinson jumper that gave Ohio a 44-40 lead.
Baldwin attempted a three-pointer and missed, but Fisher was fouled by Jones on the rebound attempt to hike the Lady Colonels' foul count up to five in the half.
Henshaw was called on a reach-in soon after that and EKU was left just one foul away from the bonus.
Black got fouled on the sideline and made both of her free-throws to give the Bobcats a 46-40 with 12:17 remaining.
Jones then knocked down a short jumper off of an offensive rebound to cut Ohio's lead down to four, the score was 46-42.
A media timeout then occured with 11:07 left in the game.
The 'Cats were rolling on all cylinders when the timeout was called. Lyles, Bailes, and Black all had nine points with 11:07 left in the contest.
Black picked up her second foul on a Coles shot attempt and she hit one of her two attempts to make the score 46-43.
Black put in a layup to put two more points on the board for Ohio, making the score 48-43 until EKU's Jones quickly answered with a layup to make it 48-45.
Ohio called a timeout with 8:46 remaining.
Fowler hit a mid-range jumper on a side-fade away attempt to give the 'Cats a 50-45 lead. Black got a steal on EKU's nest possession and ran the court. She missed her first layup attempt, but rebounded her miss and put it in to give Ohio the 52-45 lead.
Black reached in for a foul and then fouled out on a double technical with about eight minutes remaining. She left the game after shooting 5-20 from the field.
Robinson hit two free throws with 4:44 remaining to increase Ohio's lead to nine. The 'Cats led 54-45 after the free-throws.
Coles then sank two free-throws of her own to make the score 54-47.
Bailes was called on an offensive foul on Ohio's nest possession. Robinson proceeded to force a steal on EKU, but the 'Cats were called for traveling on the ensuing play.
Bailes then drained a three-pointer to give Ohio a double digit lead at 57-47.
Ohio was playing solid team basketball at that point, hustling for rebounds and capitalzing on shot attempts, which is something that it hadn't done very often this season.
Cooper hit a jumper for EKU to make the score 57-49 in Ohio's favor. Bailes lined up for a wide-open three-point attempt on the following possession, but missed everything in an air-ball.
Ohio forced a stop on the other end and Robinson earned an and-one attempt in transition, but missed the free-throw attempt. Ohio led 59-49 after the score.
Byard fouled Jones for an and-one attempt of her own, but she also missed the attempt. The 'Cats led 59-51.
Barber fouled out for EKU after the basket.
Lyles had two double-bonus attempts after that and converted on the first attempt to give Ohio a 60-51 lead. She then fought for a held ball during EKU's next possession, but the Lady Colonel's kept the rock on the play. A timeout ensued.
The 'Cats were playing some stingy defense in the last 10 minutes of the game. It seemed like Ohio was hustling more and showing some much needed effort in the game.
Randall was loving the defensive intensity late in the game and even raised her arms up and down to pump everyone up at one point in the game.
Coles missed two free-throw attempts for EKU with about 2:40 remaining. She then missed a three a Fowler snagged the ball for an offensive rebound. She got fouled following the play and made two free-throws to put Ohio up 62-51.
EKU then called a timeout with 2:00 remaining.
Lyles was fouled after the break and made both of her free throws yet again. She was 7-8 from the stripe at that point, giving the 'Cats a 64-56 lead until Gray knocked down a three soon after that. The score was 64-56 after the shot with 1:47 remaining.
Fowler shot two free throw attempts, missed the first and made the second to make it 65-56. Robinson joined in on the party and shot two free throws, but she missed both attempts.
Lyles then got a big rebound on an EKU missed and dished it to Fowler, who was fouled. She made both of her attempts to increase the lead to 11, the score was 67-56.
Lara'e Allen proceeded to hit a layup for EKU with 37 seconds remaining to make the score 67-58.
Robinson made a layup in transition off of a baseball inbound pass from Fisher to make the score 69-58.
Final: Ohio 69, EKU 58
Ohio sealed the deal late in the second half with free throws and hustle. The 'Cats played with some much needed intensity in the game, they shot 22-29 from the free-throw line.
Statistics
Robinson: 14 points, one assist, six rebounds
Black: 13 points, one assist, six rebounds
Bailes: 12 points, two assists, seven rebounds
Lyles: 12 points, two assists, six rebounds
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Gray: 14 points, seven assists, six rebounds
Jones: 13 points, zero assists, ten rebounds
Barber: Nine points, zero assists, seven rebounds
Cooper: Eight points, zero assists, two rebounds
Reactions
"I think coach did well putting the right people out there who had energy defensively." - Robinson
"Unlike other games we've played, we were able to make defensive stops." - Randall
"I mixed the lineup up ... I motivated some people and I thought they stepped up and responded well." - Randall
"It's one game, so I don't wanna get too high and I don't wanna get too low ... This is a good thing, because what we were doing before was not working." - Randall
Up Next
Ohio will play Morehead State on Dec. 9 in The Convo as the 'Cats seek a second straight win before heading on a four-game road trip.
